It goes from online sources to great and established media entities; to newspapers, to cable to local television newscasts. The headlines morph from rumor to fact.

It thus must be true. Just look at the headlines and see how rumor morphs to facts.

Let me follow this logic: Online media outlets are “instant” and “fast,” and the information they provide then spreads to “great and established media properties” that then morph “rumor to fact.” Got it.

The media gets manipulated by an overseas agent; and a freelance media rep. That was too easy wasn’t it?

“An overseas agent,” or the player in question’s agent. “A freelance media rep,” or a reporter for the No. 1 NHL blog. Potato, potahto.

Isn’t the player’s agent a primary source for such a story? And, since that was clearly stated on Puck Daddy, doesn’t that mean the misdirection wasn’t so much the media’s fault as it was the agent’s fault, or maybe the player’s for choosing said agent?

But news moves so quickly. The media is off to the next story and rumor. So who cares?

You know what really grinds my gears? THE SPEED OF NEWS. Slow down, you guys.

Who cares if the old pixels are incorrect? The monster was fed and the stories are disposable. The media awaits the next tasty morsel from the blogger. In the old days the generator of bad news would be put into the penalty box. In the new world there is no accountability and we await the next feeding.

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

“Ted Leonsis’s deleted blog post”– 30,700 listings in 0.09 seconds.

Maybe that’s because a blog post by Ted Leonsis discussing the Caps’ free agency plans on the day free agency began was deleted without explanation.

In the old days an established media journalist would call or email and ask “What is up?” What just happened with the blog post going down? What does this mean?

Ah, those were the days, when journos inquired about deleted blog posts and waited around rather than sharing what happened and updating their coverage as events unfolded.

But not today. There is an algorithm awaiting feeding. Controversy sells and being first to post matters. Being second to recycle is important to listings into Google crawlers. Deleting a blog post is BIG NEWS. We want our links to be linked back from 30,700 sites. Who cares if it was because of a typo and an editing process?

The editing process should not include wholesale deletion of blog posts for typos or for anything else, really, without explanation. Once “publish” is pressed the post is cached, syndicated, tweeted, etc. Because the Internet is forever, you see. Leonsis should know; he helped create it, I think.

Who cares if what was posted in my blog post turned out to be pretty accurate and transparent. It was more important to be first with the big news of a “deleted blog post”.

Yes, very big news. The editors of WashingtonPost.com thought so much of it they played it front-and-center, right there on the Caps blog within the Caps section of the Sports section of the website. You couldn’t miss it.

Jagr to DC-2011-71,000 listings; Jagr to Pittsburgh 2011-2,470,000 listings; Jagr to Philadelphia 2011-2,510,000 listings. All in less than a second. Permanently glued into the algorithm.

I know, right? Information is the worst. Actually, strike that. Speed is the worst, then information, followed by pixel-gobbling monsters.

Media have a big responsibility. A tough job; but a higher standard to execute against I believe.

“Execute against” is one of those terms you only hear from execs. Pretty sure they teach it in biz school. Related: I’ll never make it in this world.

Being accurate and trusted is important. Providing context is crucial. It is more important than being “first to post”.

While I’m not a fan of Leonsis’ blogging (most of which is childish), I should point out that when he says “overseas agent”, he is completely accurate. The story came from Varly’s Russian agent, not his North American agent (Paul Theofanous) who worked out the deal with Colorado and did not participate in the circus from the Puck Daddy story. As Slava Malamud pointed out, “Russian agents should always carry label: ‘More than half of this is hot air.’ A good lesson to anyone who listens to them in the future.” The fact remains that the Puck Daddy story contained no quotes from anybody affiliated with the NHL and was primarily sourced from somebody who’s best interests was to get Varlamov to jump to the KHL.

This is the translated quote from Varlamov’s agent: “Varlamov has offers from Washington and from Russia. At this moment Varlamov chose the KHL.”

That does not say “Varlamov has chosen the KHL” to me at all. Even if you take Russian agents’ words at face value, the headline is a stretch. “At this moment” is quite a qualifier. Also, looking at the evidence on the whole, objectively…he was EN ROUTE TO THE U.S. at that time. I just thought it was an irresponsible headline.